Macken St Bridge - Santiago Calatrava

[Peter Fitz]

will look cool lit up though ...

[fergalr]

will look cool lit up though ...

So long as you're downstream of the Loop Line Wall.

[Blacktop]

You think the ON ramp is bad?

Just you wait till you try the OFF ramp!:eek:

[bigjoe]

had my worse Pearse street experience in a long while last night.
just wondering if anyone knows when the Macken street bridge is due to open?

[alonso]

1st week of December

[bigjoe]

thank you Alonso.
do you know what the traffic flow on and off (no rights turns etc) of the bridge will be?

[lostexpectation]

traffic details via http://short.ie/beckettbridge

listen to this how morning ireland guy cuts the legs from under the engineer pointing out the half built buildings and empty offices on either side of the bridge
http://www.rte.ie/news/morningireland/player.html?20091210,2665472,2665472,real,209

[Peter Fitz]

Some new pics on thedailystuff.ie

http://www.thedailystuff.ie/beckettbridgearrival.html

Looks like the tie in to the quay was graded gently enough in the end.

[Peter Fitz]

Look great


irishtimes.com

[GregF]

Wow....What a geat new landmark for the city!

Brilliant stuff.

[aj]

love it

[Yixian]

Would be nice to see if this plus the new Luas connection will succeed in bringing footfall out into the Docklands.

This could be the earliest sign as to whether or not the "city centre" will successfully be extended out into Docklands after having been trapped around OCS and College Green for... ever.

[irishguy]

Just came from there and the bridge is very nice, fits in very well. The only thing is there is a bus lane each way on the bridge, but thats it no bus lanes on either side of the river. FOr that matter no buses will even be using it. Do Dublin Bus have plans to put it to use?

[CraigFay]

[kevin dillon]

Yixian it will take a lot more intensification and connectivity before Docklands either feels like or warrents city centre status or interest.

I think Dick Gleeson and Co are getting there and we should be proud of them. But city place making can take decades at least. Rome wasn't built in a day etc, particularly with economic collapses selfishly getting in the way. But overall the city is progressing very well. Especially if you remember the sorry state of Dublin from 1960 to 1990 due to poor planning and primitive politics.

[missarchi]

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1211/breaking40.html

[Adolf Luas]

I drove across The Samuel Beckett Bridge at about 12:30 last night for the first time. There was a real "wow" factor, so much so that I had to park the car, and go back and walk it. On my way home, I had to cross The James Joyce Bridge which inevitably is in a really poor state, one entire lower side of lighting was totally redundant and various other strip lights weren't working. In the cold light of day, there are plenty of other issues too. One wonders whether Dublin City Council would have been shamed into at least changing a few light bulbs had Calatrava been in town to attend the opening of his Samuel Beckett Bridge as he did back in June 2003 at the official opening of its little sister upstream.
Looking at Amanda Levete Architects lovely new bridge nearby I also wonder what the London practice would make of the state of the new structure's immediate environment (granted that the landscaping hasn't been started).................See pic: http://www.flickr.com/photos/stoneybutter/4150893809/in/set-72157622809236246/

[jdivision]

http://www.tribune.ie/business/news/article/2009/dec/06/sitting-on-the-dock-of-the-bay/
One source said he believed that development levies paid towards the (linear) park had been ringfenced for that purpose but the authority's view is different. "The board of the authority is currently reviewing options for the linear park which may include scaling back plans given our current financial situation. Income to the authority in the form of levies is not earmarked for specific project use but is allocated across all area and social regeneration projects," a spokesman said last week.

[Service charge]

Not to mention the poor state of the O;Casey bridge too. Various portions of lighting not working.

And lets not forget the Millenium bridge. The council has even wiped a J cloth over it in years. Let alone replace the little green lights.

[Yixian]

Not to mention the poor state of the O;Casey bridge too. Various portions of lighting not working.

And lets not forget the Millenium bridge. The council has even wiped a J cloth over it in years. Let alone replace the little green lights.

Well? Get your overalls, I'll see you down there tomorrow morning?

[PVC King]

http://www.tribune.ie/business/news/article/2009/dec/06/sitting-on-the-dock-of-the-bay/
One source said he believed that development levies paid towards the (linear) park had been ringfenced for that purpose but the authority's view is different. "The board of the authority is currently reviewing options for the linear park which may include scaling back plans given our current financial situation. Income to the authority in the form of levies is not earmarked for specific project use but is allocated across all area and social regeneration projects," a spokesman said last week.

As a student in a group arranged by our lecturer we attended the Smithfield Oral Hearing and the one point I remember from that hearing was the frustration expressed by Tom Phillips then at Frank L Benson as to the practice of a local authority maximising developer contributions for 'specific works' which would enhance the specific local environment to a very attractive one benefiting borh the development and local residents alike. Then once the consent was secured and development levies discharged often into the millions the same local authority would overrule their planners with the same 'specific funds' to disapear into the 'general budget'.

If Dublin is to go down the FDR route of public amenity infrastructure as a fiscal stimulus that is one thing but to leave the North Docklands with anything other than the best possible master plan in the context of the scale of the NAMA ownerships down there and the requirement to develop the area to ensure viability for the Dart Underground scheme would be incredibly retrograde. I am very dispointed to read this article as one would have expected a lot more lucidity from someone with the intellect of Niamh Brennan.

[Service charge]

Drove the bridge on my commute this morning.

Just can't see the purpose. I live southside, work northside. It should be ideal for my commute. Yet due to the various traffic restrictions I have no way of making the bridge work. There is no right turn to the port tunnel, nor is there a right turn on Seville Pl to connect with the Malahide Road.

So the question is who exactly is going to use it? And what bus routes could possibly use it given the crazy restrictions?

[bigjoe]

Drove the bridge on my commute this morning.

Just can't see the purpose. I live southside, work northside. It should be ideal for my commute. Yet due to the various traffic restrictions I have no way of making the bridge work. There is no right turn to the port tunnel, nor is there a right turn on Seville Pl to connect with the Malahide Road.

So the question is who exactly is going to use it? And what bus routes could possibly use it given the crazy restrictions?

agree with you 100% SC. I have to get to drumcondra from pearse street. the no right turn onto the quays makes no sense at all. i'll take a spin down on a sunday morning to have a proper look.

[kefu]

Getting on to the bridge from the Northside is also very difficult. You cannot turn left on to it from either the quays or from Sheriff Street so effectively it's not meant for anybody using the Tunnel or the Ports. The only access seems to be directly down from Seville Place.
BigJoe, you are able to turn right onto Pearse Street from Macken Street.
Seems a bit of a mess and even when I was there on Sunday - with very limited traffic around - there were pretty bad tailbacks forming. Any idea if it is helping improve Pearse Street from a surface car park on week nights?

[CraigFay]

Hatch leading to electrics in the ship, judging by the van parked nearby :P